By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Deadlock Pro Wrestling “You Already Know”
February 25, 2023 in Raleigh, North Carolina at NC State Fairgrounds
Available via DPWondemand.com
I admitted am a big fan of this relatively unknown roster. Rich Bocchini provided solo commentary.
* The show opened with a nice video montage. The crowd appears to be in the 200-300 range. DPW does a great job with sound and lighting.
1. Andrew Everett defeated Mason Myles to retain the DPW National Title at 10:51. Everett, who had a nice Impact run a few years ago, is still doing a gimmick where he thinks he’s 7’4″, and he wears an Andre-inspired one-armed singlet. Myles has the passing resemblance to Tyler Bate, and he has a huge eagle tattoo on his chest. Myles hit a plancha to the floor at 2:30. In the ring, Myles hit a uranage for a nearfall. Everett hit a Lionsault for a nearfall at 7:00.
Myles hit a tornado DDT. Everett nailed a chokeslam for a believable nearfall at 9:30. Everett nailed a top-rope chokeslam, then his amazing Shooting Star press for the pin. Everett isn’t fat, but he’s thick, and his SSP is just so pretty from a guy his size. Good opener.
2. “Wasteland War Party” Heidi Howitzer and Max the Impaler defeated Raychell Rose and Jada Stone to retain the TJ Princess Tag Team Titles at 10:29. Rose is essentially the Britt Baker of DPW, billing herself as “the queen” of the promotion. Stone is a short Black woman, and I liked what I saw of her in a prior match. The WWP tour over them in height and overall size. “What a frightening duo,” Bocchini said of Heidi and Max. Raychell and Max started, and Rose cowered in fear and immediately tagged in Stone before locking up. Funny. Max tried to sit down on Jada’s chest, but Jada moved before being flattened.
Jada hit a Shining Wizard on Heidi. Raychell hit a kneedrop to Heidi’s chest for a nearfall at 2:30. The WWP began working over Jada in their corner. Raychell tagged in and hit some chops on Heidi that had no affect; Heidi dropped her with a hard chop at 7:00. Max hit a gutbuster over the knee for a nearfall. Raychell hit a running knee on Heidi, and she tagged Jada in at 9:00. Jada hit a headscissors takedown on Max and Raychell hit a hard knee to the side of Max’s head. Raychell accidentally speared Jada; Max threw Raychell to the floor. Heidi then hit a splash off of Max’s shoulders onto Jada for the pin. Decent match.
* After the WWP left the ring, Raychell attacked Jada. Everyone saw that coming.
3. Labron Kozone and Jay Malachi defeated BK Westbrook and Adam Brooks at 18:08. BK has a swagger and reminds me of a heelish Adam Cole. Malachi and Kozone are both Black men with short dreadlocks. Malachi is a bit taller and more slender. All four brawled at the bell. Malachi hit a nice Lionsault Press at 2:00. Westbrook hit a hard kick to Kozone’s back and celebrated, as the heels worked Labron over. Brooks, the Aussie, hit some hard chops on Kozone and choked him on the mat. Brooks hit a suplex into the turnbuckles for a nearfall at 9:30.
Kozone finally hit a Falcon Arrow on Brooks, then an enzuigiri on BK. Malachi made the hot tag and he hit a tornado DDT on Brooks at 12:00, then a second-rope moonsault, then a springboard forearm for a nearfall. Westbrook hit a superkick on Kozone. He went for a Shooting Star Press, but Labron got his knees up. Brooks hit a piledriver on Kozone, then a top-rope Swanton Bomb. Jay nailed a Canadian Destroyer. BK hit a running stunner, and suddenly everyone was down at 14:00.
Labron hit a two-handed chokeslam on BK. Malachi hit a frogsplash for a nearfall. BK hit a powerbomb on Malachi. Brooks hit an enzuigiri on Kozone. Malachi fired back with a boot to the face. Brooks hit a Lungblower at 16:30, then a dive to the floor. Malachi hit a Frankensteiner, a top-rope stunner, and an incredible dive to the floor on BK. That allowed Kozone to nail a decapitating clothesline on Brooks for the pin. That was really entertaining.
* A video package aired showing Sumie Sakai over her decades in the ring, with some nice footage of Emi Sakura.
4. Emi Sakura defeated Sumie Sakai to retain the DPW Women’s Title at 14:01. This crowd was HOT before they touched, and they had an intense lockup. Emi sat on Sumie and sipped her imaginary tea to plenty of cheers. Emi tied Sumie up on the mat, then locked her in a surfboard at 3:30. Emi applied a leglock around Emi’s head. Emi hit her series of chops in the corner, then a crossbody block in the corner for a nearfall at 6:00. Emi hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker over her knee, then she held Sumie upside down for half a minute before hitting another backbreaker over her knee.
Emi hit an impressive Frankensteiner, but Sumie rolled through and got a nearfall at 8:00. Sakai applied a cross-armbreaker. Sumie hit a fisherman’s suplex for a nearfall. Emi hit a back suplex, and they were both down at 10:00. They got up and traded forearm shots and chops. Emi nailed a spinning faceplant for a nearfall. Sumie hit her own spinning faceplant. Emi hit another spinning faceplant but only got a one-count at 13:00. Sakai hit another spinning faceplant; these are mirror moves of each other. Emi put Sakai on her shoulders and hit an Ospreay-style Stormbreaker faceplant to the mat for the pin. That was really, really good. They hugged afterward.
* A video package aired, showing “Violence is Forever” Kevin Ku & Dominic Garrini winning the tag titles. The next match will be their first title defense!
5. “Violence is Forever” Kevin Ku & Dominic Garrini defeated “MSP” Aiden Aggro & Danger Kid and “Above the Rest” Gabriel Skye & Tristan Thai in a three-way tag at 17:52. My first time seeing MSP. Skye had a really good showing last week on the GCW shows in New Jersey. MSP wore purple gear; Aggro has short dreadlocks and made me think of Eli Isom, while Danger Kid reminds me of Ace Austin. MSP hit a team senton on Skye for a nearfall at 4:00, and they worked him over early. The two challenger teams fought extensively. Garrini finally entered at 8:00 and hit some chops. Ku bodyslammed Skye.
Ku nailed a nice Dragon Suplex at 10:30 on Skye. Garrini applied a sleeper, as ViF worked over Skye extensively. Five wrestlers did a tower spot out of the corner, with Garrini crashing hard to the mat ath 13:30. Garrini nailed Thai with a decapitating clothesline. Ku hit an Angle Slam. ATR did a nice spot where one hit a monkey flip and his partner hit a knee strike. ViF and ATR were in the ring and trading punches and forearm shots. Garrini nailed another decapitating clothesline on Skye at 16:30. ViF hit the “Chasing the Dragon” spin kick-and-piledriver combo on Skye for the pin.
* A nice video package aired previewing the next match..
6. Lucky Ali defeated Colby Corino in a “title vs. career” match to retain the DPW Title at 33:28. It was already widely known that Corino was joining NXT, so I don’t think there was much mystery about the outcome of this match. Ali, who has a similar look and hair style of Kofi Kingston, has been in a handful of AEW Dark matches. An intense lockup to start. They brawled to the floor, where Ali whipped Colby into the guardrails at 2:00. They went over the guardrail and brawled into the crowd. Colby entered the ring and dove through the ropes, over the guardrail, and onto Ali at 5:30.
Ali powerbombed Corino onto a tower of open chairs at 8:00, and he threw him into the ring and got a nearfall. Corino got a staple gun and he used it several times on Ali’s body. Ali hit a low blow, got the staple gun, and he used it to staple a dollar bill to Colby’s face at 11:00. Ali got a door from under the ring, and he jabbed it into Colby’s chest at 13:30. Colby powerslammed Ali onto the door, set up in the corner, to get a nearfall. Colby threw a trash can at Ali’s head on the floor.
Colby hit another dive to the floor. Ali is now bleeding from the forehead. Back in the ring, Colby hit a bulldog onto an open chair for a nearfall at 19:30. Colby went under the ring and got a door covered in barbed wire, and he threw it in the ring. Colby set up for a Styles Clash, which would have dropped Ali stomach-first onto the barbed wire, but Ali broke free. Ali grabbed Colby off the top turnbuckle and flipped him through the barbed-wire door for a nearfall at 21:30. Colby hit Ali with a light tube and that popped the crowd. He did that a few more times and got a rollup for a nearfall at 25:30.
Adam Brooks and BK Westbrook suddenly appeared at ringside to help out Ali; they held Colby’s arms. Lucky Ali slammed his title belt onto a light tube pressed against Corino’s head to get a believable nearfall. The heels peeled the padding off the ring to reveal the boards. Jay Malachi chased Brooks and Westbrook to the back. Meanwhile, Ali hit a back suplex onto the exposed wood boards at 30:00. Colby hit a second-rope Russian Legsweep, with them both crashing onto the exposed wood for a nearfall. Corino went under the ring and got lighter fluid and a lighter; he sprayed it all over a door set up in the corner; this is stupid and dangerous. Colby set it on fire but Ali pushed him into the fire; the blaze went out immediately. Ali immediately hit a clothesline to the back of the neck for the pin.
* Colby Corino got on the mic and said he felt like he let everyone down by not winning. The crowd rallied for him. He said that DPW “will still be in really good hands” after he leaves, and he put over several of the top guys on the roster. He brought his son, who is probably three, and his wife into the ring and hugged them to close the show.
Final Thoughts: I can do without the staple guns, the light tubes, and especially the fire. What started as an enjoyable hardcore match really lost my interest as it went on and got more and more violent. I wish Colby Corino well as he moves to NXT. I’ve written this before, but I feel bad for him, in that we saw him essentially as a jobber in ROH at the beginning of his career. It took some time, but he has shed those images I have of him from that time, and he had a really strong 2022. (I could write the exact same thing about Adam Page.)
Not my favorite DPW show. In past events, they’ve had BoJack, Calvin Tankman, Diego Hill, the Workhorsemen, and some really stellar Japanese talent who were touring the United States. Those wrestlers were definitely missed on this show.
I know commentators don’t get enough credit, but Rich Bocchini called the whole show solo and did a good job of being engaging and insightful. Learn more about this promotion at www.deadlockpro.com
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